Die Hard Classic Movie Review

Classic Movie Reviews are occasional posts in which I review a movie from the past. It might have to do with a movie coming out that week or just a personal favorite of mine. These reviews may contain spoilers.

After forcing myself to watch/rewatch the Hunger Games movies this week (look for a podcast this weekend and reviews next week), I needed to cleanse myself with some movies I think are actually good. Die Hard was one of those (and I’m watching Top Gun as I write this). Because of that I’ve decided to do a classic movie review on a movie that’s actually a classic, and also my favorite movie of all time.

If you’ve never seen it- what’s wrong with you? Just kidding, we can’t all be perfect. It’s about a NYPD cop named John McClane (Bruce Willis) who attends his wife’s company’s Christmas party in LA when terrorists take over. He must do whatever it takes to fight them off on his own and save all of the party guests, including his wife.

It’s a simple premise, but it leads to an amazing movie. I talk about how much I love it all the time, but it’s widely regarded as one of the best action movies ever made, and there’s a reason for that. The action is awesome, but it’s a small element as to why this movie is great. First of all, it’s got one of the best movie villains of all time in Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). Rickman gives a great performance as an “exceptional thief” that we never really hate. He’s fun to watch. The chemistry between him and Willis is good and the back and forth between them leads to some of the best scenes. Speaking of Willis, this is easily his best role to date. He plays a hero who we can all relate to. He’s an average guy who is out of his element and gets caught up in something way over his head. But he does what he has to to survive and protect others. That’s my favorite part of this movie. This hero could be any of us; at least it feels that way. Most people will go to any lengths to protect their family and that’s all McClane is trying to do. It boils down to something that simple. Sure, he wants to stop the bad guys. But his main goal the whole time is to save his wife and the other guests. It’s hard to beat a hero like that, and it’s also hard to replicate. That’s clear in the fact that you don’t see it done as well in other movies (even most of this movie’s sequels). Besides those things, the movie also has great humor, great supporting characters, and obviously some great action scenes. It’s also easily quotable. I can quote most of the lines in this movie, and that’s not a bad thing.

There aren’t any negatives to this movie so I won’t even go there. It’s one of the best movies ever. Other films have tried to use the “Die Hard formula” hundreds of times for a reason. Since it is technically a Christmas movie, my dad and I watch it every Christmas Eve. Even if you aren’t a big action movie fan, give this one a shot. I highly recommend Die Hard and obviously give it a 5/5.